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19/10/18. A study by Mark Fox and colleagues at the University of London has found wide genetic diversity among Angiostrongylus vasorum infecting foxes. https://www.vettimes.co.uk/news/new-heartworm-threat-to-uk-dogs-is-identified/. If this diversity extends to dogs which is likely, it may go someway to explaining the range of clinical syndromes seen as a result of infection and possibly predict trends in pathogenicity in the future. It also raises the possibility that resistance to licensed macrocyclic lactones might develop in the parasite over time. Prof Fox and colleagues would like to extend this study of genetic diversity in A.vasorum to dogs and is urgently asking vets to provide samples of adult worms recovered at post mortem. Vets finding worms can contact Prof Fox at mfox@rvc.ac.uk for further details.
